


by the water fountain

by spooky_samhain



Category: Greek and Roman Mythology, Hellenistic Religion & Lore
Genre: F/M, I like it, Implied/Referenced Underage Drinking, Songfic, angst mdude, i need to tag smth but spoilers, kind of, might have another part ?? it depends, water fountain by alec benjamin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-21
Updated: 2018-11-21
Packaged: 2019-08-27 08:32:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16699000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spooky_samhain/pseuds/spooky_samhain
Summary: she wanted to hurt him, she never wanted to lose him.





	by the water fountain

_( she told me that she loved me by the water fountain / she told me that she loved me and she didn't love him / and that was really lovely ‘cause it was innocent )_

 

she remembers the first time she told him that she loved him, way back in high school when things were still innocent.

. . .

 

it was in between classes and they were standing in a crowded hallway, eris looking like a goddess in ripped jeans and red lipstick; zagreus as always, looked like a piece of art come to life, all sharp edges and dark colours. she was leaning against a wall of lockers, absentmindedly watching as he drank from the water fountain. he was a graceful being -- in appearance only -- and she, just for a minute wanted to see that grace crumble. she _thrived_ on chaos. it, and him, were practically her obsessions.

 

“i love you.” she picked at her nails, watching as he falls apart, nearly choking on his water. she can see him think, see him wonder if he heard her correctly. after all the hall is crowded and she _did_ whisper it, so maybe he heard wrong? she can see this and she relishes in it.

 

“what?” he stammers out, meeting her dark gaze and darker smile; she loves seeing him like this, flustered and lovesick. she smiles wickedly, leaning ever so close to him and whispering it to him again.

 

“i love you, zagreus.” and she means it, she does. she loves him and he doesn't have to answer for her to know he loves her too. but he has doubts.

 

“i-,” he falters, his icey blue eyes dropping from her to the floor. she can see his doubts creeping into his thoughts. he knew she was trouble, knew she lived for chaos.

 

“what about him?” she presses a kiss to his throat, cupping his face in her hands and whispering to him again.

 

“i love you, not him.” hope fills his expression, and she thinks it's beautiful. he hesitantly kisses her; gently like he's afraid she'll break, and she could almost laugh. he doesn't know about her broken home, or how he's right to treat her like she's fragile. he doesn't know and she loves him for not asking.

 

eris knows in that moment that she loves this boy with his hopeful eyes.

 

_( but now she's got a cup with something else in it / it's getting kinda blurry at a quarter past ten )_

 

it started to fall apart during a party; she couldn't remember who had invited her or why she had come, all she remembered was drinking and being angry.

 

they'd had a fight and she had stormed off, leaving him looking hurt in the shadows.

 

ares had seen and followed her. he offered her a friend to talk to and she accepted. talking, and dancing, and drinking with ares was more about hurting zagreus than it was about wanting ares.

 

she thrived on chaos and drinking until her vision blurs and until her laughter is a touch too loud, was the best kind. she knew she wouldn't be able to explain the smell of alcohol on her breath, or the purplish bruises on her neck, to her father and she laughed. ares didn't hear the bitterness behind it, instead he joined her, pressing his lips to her jaw.

 

and zagreus saw it all.

 

_( and he was in a hurry to be touching her skin / she's feeling kind of dirty when she's dancing with him / forgetting what she told me at the water fountain )_

 

she could have stopped ares, stopped his wandering hands and his infrequent kisses. but, she didn't. she let the thrill of the moment run through her and she let everything blur together as they danced.

 

then the door slammed, she didn't have to ask to know who left. she didn't expect it to hurt so much.

 

zagreus ran from the party, getting in his car and taking off as fast as he could. his thoughts weren't on how he should be angry, how he should feel _something_ , his thoughts were all on what he did that made her forget.

 

she knew what it felt like to be broken, and this, this was no different. she still danced with ares, still let his hands roam, but now she was numb to it. she hadn't meant for this to happen and she hadn't expected to hate it so much.

 

he treated her like a fragile thing and she had forgotten that he could break too . . . until she broke him.

 

_( now he's grabbing her hips, and pulling her in / kissing her lips, and whispering in her ear / and she knows she shouldn't listen and that she should be with me by the water fountain )_

 

part of her thought she could fix a broken heart by letting ares love her. even if she knew she wasn't permanent to him, he wouldn't love her like he did aphrodite; she was only good for the night. and she let it happen.

 

she let him take her shirt off and press kisses down her chest. she let him tell her that he loved her, that he would treat right. for awhile she let herself believe him, let herself forget zagreus for a night.

 

little did she know but zagreus was trying to forget her too.

 

. . .

 

_( she couldn't be couldn't be alone at the nighttime because / it made her feel alone )_

 

eris could never forget that night.

 

she could still feel ares holding her, touching her. and she could still remember the call from melinoe.

 how melinoe had yelled at her, screaming until her throat was hoarse. 

 _"why did you let him go? why weren't you together?"_

she knew melinoe wasn't actually mad at her, there was no way for her to know she should be. she knew that this was how her grief manifested. in angry words and raised voices.

after all, she had last a brother. and what had eris lost? a relationship, the one person she really loved? answer: nothing that she hadn't already ruined. 


End file.
